SURREY County Council has detailed the reasons why it believes Thornchace School in Merrow should close.

In a report carried out by County Hall education officials, Thornchace – the only Surrey school that deals with girls with emotional and behavioural needs – is earmarked for closure in September next year.

However, in its role as the Local Education Authority (LEA) Surrey County Council is set to provided two similar centres to Thornchace – one in Chertsey and another in Haslemere.

Opponents to closure have hit out at the new plans, in particular the fact the two new centres would not provide girls with residential accommodation. “The residential element of Thornchace’s provision has been under-utilised for a considerable period of time at some significant cost to the authority,” the LEA’s report states. “It is now closed due to a lack of staff.

“A range of services to prevent the need for residential placements exist or are in development, including the expansion of foster care and services to prevent children and young people from entering the looked-after system.”

The latest LEA plans are the second time closure of Thornchace has been proposed in the last year.

In April, the LEA said it was suspending closure plans that had been announced at the start of the year.

At that time the LEA remained committed to closing the Grove Road school, but put the scheme on ice while the possibility of alternative centres at either end of the county were explored in detail.

With the details unveiled, the Save Thornchace Intervention Committee (STIC) has been resurrected and has slammed the two-centre proposal as “inadequate and unworkable”.

Jane Wray, from the STIC, has written to the LEA outlining the committee’s concerns ahead of a meeting of the county council’s Executive next week during which a decision on a consultation process on closure will be made.

She has told LEA chiefs the new arrangements would not offer girls with emotional and behavioural difficulties a broad education, as some teaching would take place at secondary schools and colleges.

“The staffing ratios proposed for the eight to 10 girls – two full-time teachers and two learning support assistants – would make the logistics of transporting and accompanying girls very complex,” Mrs Wray said.

“Girls with behavioural and emotional difficulties will not have access to boarding facilities, and boys with similar needs will. This is an equal opportunities issue, which has not been addressed.”

The LEA report also highlights expected cost benefits from closing Thornchace. LEA officials have put costs at Thornchace at £579,491 a year, while the two new centres are expected to cost a total of £440,000 a year.

The LEA has stressed that no decisions have been made.

The county council’s Tory-run executive will be asked to give its backing to an eight-week consultation on closure at a meeting starting at 2.30pm at County Hall in Kingston on Tuesday.